Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Holiday
LGBTQ+ Identities: Bi, Gay
Reviewer: Linda
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About the Book:
QSFer Meghan Maslow has a new MM paranormal Christmas romance out in the multi-author Tinsel and Tentacles series (bi, gay): Cthulhu for Christmas.
Six accidental tentacles, five naked neighbors, four evil mages, three ugly sweaters, two dead bodies, and one crush on my straight best friend . . .
Some things are simple fact: Santa Claus isn’t real and magic doesn’t exist. As a former foster kid turned cop, I know this for a fact. My life is anything but magical and Santa sure as hell never visited me as a kid.
Another fact in my life: I’ve been in love with Grey Criswel, my gorgeous—and straight—best friend, since we met. Unfortunately, he’s not going to make my secret Christmas wish come true this year—or ever.
But before I know it, fact and fantasy are starting to get all mixed up. I thought I knew Old Bay Isle and its residents like the back of my hand. Now I’m dealing with a bunch of naked carolers refusing to put on their damn clothes and mysterious happenings at the lighthouse. Oh, and murder. Because what says happy holidays like a corpse at a Christmas tree farm?
Worse yet, I’m suddenly afflicted with an aquatic ailment of sorts. Namely—tentacles. Six of them to be exact. Attached. To. My. Back. They even have their own opinions. And they all agree they want Grey. Could he maybe want them—and me—back? Things are so topsy-turvy I’m starting to believe the impossible just might be possible because it turns out magic is real after all . . .
Cthulhu for Christmas is a standalone novel in the Tinsel and Tentacles multi-author winter holiday MM tentacle romance series. It features Zen King—a cop with a tentacular dilemma, a best friend with a closet full (heh) of secrets, a sharp-tongued former foster mom, a beaver for a roommate, found family, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.
The Review:
Zen King grew up in foster care, ever since his birthparents left him in the bathroom of a fast-food restaurant with a note pinned to his chest with only his first name. His last name was chosen randomly because of the restaurant he was left in.
By the age of twelve, Zen was living with Bobbie Kratchit, who despite the boy’s constant attempts to cause trouble, never sent him away. She became a mother to him, and even when he became an adult, he never left her, or Old Bay Island. He stayed on the small island because of Bobbie and the other kids she fostered, and because of the boy he fell in love with when he was twelve.
Greyston Criswel was being tormented by a group of other boys, and Zen was not going to allow it. Now, as adults, they are best friends.
Zen has loved Greyson since that day, but he’s gay and Greyson is not. A familiar story – gay boy loves his straight best friend, and keeps his feelings to himself for fear of damaging their friendship. The two stuck by each other, and if one was in trouble, the other was there with a helping hand.
Zen is now a police office, and Greyson has opened a confectionary shop – much to his family’s dismay.
OBI is quite unique at Christmas time. Everyone is expected to wear a Christmas hat – even the police. And if you need to get somewhere, you just wait at a stop, and without calling anyone, a sleigh led by caribous will appear.
Zen is not readily accepted by most of the people on the island. He was a foster child and not a local, and even his job consists mostly of minor work – crowd control or other unimportant duties. Knowing that he will never advance in his job and never have the man he has loved since he was a child, he applies to the FBI and is accepted. In a few weeks he will be leaving, and he has been unable to admit it to any of those people he loves, or to his boss.
With the town on full Christmas display and tourists coming in droves, Zen could never have imagined the chaos that would ensue. Carolers are parading through the streets, singing naked and oblivious to their nudity. The mayor’s girlfriend is killed, although the official story is that it was a just an accident.
Zen discovers that Grey is supposed to marry a woman chosen for him by his elitist family, and now leaving is something he must do if he hopes to ever have a life of his own, now that he knows that Grey will never belong to him.
Zen is about to learn that the ones he loves have been keeping secrets from him all his life. The town is filled with magic, and is a haven for the magical, and the non-magical people are totally unaware.
Zen begins to investigate a missing artifact, and it puts him in danger, forcing Grey to use his magic to protect his best friend. Sometimes magic backfires, and now Zen has six tentacles on his back that won’t do his bidding. Instead, they touch him and Grey, like pets.
Secrets, magic, and betrayals fill this unusual, enjoyable holiday tale, along with major lie that Grey has kept from Zen, which will change both of their lives forever. 4 stars.
This is part of a multi-author MM tentacle romance series.
The Reviewer:
I am an avid reader the mother of 3 sons and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Since retiring I have been doing more reading while volunteering as a CASA worker. CASA is an organization that works with the family court system to ensure that children are in the best living situation. There are way too many children that get overlooked in the foster care system and I visit homes and make visits to the parents. I was born and raised in New York and my husband of 50 years and I live in Upstate New York.
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